The Castelroussins call this vast shed ” Cathedral “. For its monumental side, of course, but perhaps also for its cost: 22 million euros, paid in full by the Centre-Val de Loire region, owner of the airport where it is located. 38 meters high, 100 meters long and lit with light-emitting diode (LED), this immaculate building – of which there are twenty-two equivalents in the world – has just been entrusted, for at least fifteen years, to the subcontractor of Vallair aeronautics. The Franco-Luxembourgish company, which specializes in the maintenance and dismantling of aircraft, and which already has a hangar in Châteauroux, wishes to attract larger machines there, and even add a growing activity: the conversion of airliners to cargo planes.
“ With the pandemic [de Covid-19], we have witnessed a strong reduction in long-haul flights, the holds of which are nevertheless used to transport goods. But e-commerce continues to grow, fast deliveries too. There is a strong need for container aircraft explains Armel Jezequel, director of the Vallair de Châteauroux site. The maritime transport giant CMA CGM thus launched its airline in February 2021 and Geodis, the logistics subsidiary of the SNCF, has had its own A330 freighter since the summer of 2021.
To the elected officials of the territory, Vallair has promised two hundred hires in four years. It is still necessary to find the candidates, because recruitment promises to be difficult. Indeed, many aeronautical professionals have left the sector due to the health crisis and the cessation of international flights. Vallair is therefore looking for new mechanics, plastics specialists, technicians, engineers… The company will probably train them in part at Aircraft Academy, an SME in Douai (North) specializing in training in aeronautical maintenance for Airbus A318 to A321, which she has just bought.
Aircraft conversion is nothing new for Vallair, a company born in 2003, originally under the name of Vallière Aviation. The Franco-Luxembourgish has been practicing it since 2014, in the United States as well as in China. In October 2021, Vallair thus delivered its third A320 freighter to a Maltese airline which is a supplier of the carrier DHL. The aircraft was converted in Canton (China) by a Singaporean company, before being finalized and repainted in France. The challenge of the “cathedral” is to allow a relocation of this activity from autumn 2022, “because reindustrialization is in tune with the times and will allow our schedules to no longer be dependent on geopolitics », explains Mr. Jezequel.
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